News from 2014
Summer Concert 2014
The Redborne Summer Concert was another outstanding success, please click here for some pictures of the evening.
Latest Edition of Redborne Musings
Please click here for latest edition.
Duke of Edinburgh
The Duke of Edinburgh staff wish to announce the launch of their Twitter feed to inform students about important dates as well as being able to 'tweet' updates about the students progress/photos whilst they are away on their expeditions for friends/family to be updated.
If you search for @RedborneDofE you will find them.
Strike Action - Thursday 10th July
You may have heard that there is strike action taking place on Thursday. Redborne will be open for all year groups. It is possible that a small number of lessons will be affected by the action.
As with the last strike action if that happens, students will be supervised in a suitable location and they will get further information when they come into school on Thursday. New work will not be set for any lessons if a teacher is on strike.
Students may therefore find it useful to bring in any homework tasks, extension work or a book to read so that they have some constructive work to do if any of their lessons are cancelled. There may be opportunities for computer access but this cannot be guaranteed.
Redborne School Farm
The school farm has set up its own website to keep you up to date with all that is happening. Take a look at the farm page for more details or go staright to the website at www.redborneschoolfarm.webs.com
Redborne Dance Company
On Saturday 28th June the Redborne Dance Co performed alongside other schools and professional dancers at the MOTUS DANCE FESTIVAL in MK. Prior to this event they spent one afternoon in school devising / creating a dance piece with the choreographer Helen Parlour of Parlour Dance Co which they then performed in a site specific setting in MK. This piece also involved dancers from Samuel Whitbread and Sharnbrook school.
The Dance Co did a fantastic job performing....in, at times, some extreme weather conditions. As the sun came out the crowds gathered and grew even more. The students even got to watch professional dance artists and performers from across the UK showcase their pieces.
Well done to all involved.
Hospitality Students Shine Again
Year 10 Hospitality Students really impressed this week when serving an afternoon tea as part of their mock controlled assessment.
On Wednesday 18th June twenty guests from the Rotary club were served an afternoon tea based on either Alice in Wonderland or the Seaside. Two days later, on Friday 20th June, eighteen ladies from Bedford WI were served a British and summertime afternoon tea.
The teams of students spent the morning baking, preparing, decorating and presenting a variety of savoury and sweet items before serving the guests their afternoon tea. They worked exceptionally hard through out the day showing excellent teamwork and skill. Both the Rotary club and Bedford WI said they had an excellent afternoon and have already asked when they can come back!
New Issue of Redborne Musings
Click here for the latest edition of Redborne Musings.
Update on the New Build
The new school hall and classroom development that is to be built on the north school site, where the long jump pit is currently located, has taken a step closer with the release of the plans. You can see them by clicking on the following links; Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 3 and Plan 4.
Bedfordshire Combined Events
On Wednesday 7th May, Redborne took two teams to the Bedfordshire and Luton Schools Athletics Association Combined Events Championships. The athletes spent the day at Bedford Athletic stadium where they all competed in Hurdles, 100m, 800m (girls) / 1500m (boys), High jump, Long Jump and Javelin (girls)/ Discus (boys). Each athlete competed in the five events. The competition was for both individuals and teams. Unfortunately, the Girls’ team had a couple of injuries, which affected the team score. The intermediate boys’ team, which consisted of Ben Davies, Billy Ecott and Ben Clements, won the team completion for Redborne and Ben Clements defended his junior title of Combined Events champion.
Bedfordshire Golf Championships
Redborne School's golf team retained their County Golf Handicap Championships meaning a return to the national finals at Woodhall Spa in July. The team of Tom Skinner, Luke Baynham and James Manning battled some awful weather conditions and a tricky course to see off the opposition in a tight competition and should be proud of their achievement.
Able, Gifted and Talented in PE
Phase 1 – Meeting Mike Mike Mullen is a former BMX World Masterclass champion who visited Redborne Upper School to work with our gifted and talented PE students. The rationale behind including the visit was to inspire students to become outstanding performers and also to teach students about motivation, persistence and mental toughness. The whole programme is underpinned by the 5 core gifted and talented components: social, cognitive, physical, creative and personal.
Phase 2 – Skills into practice
Having spoken to Mike about the qualities and attributes of an elite performer and leader, students were asked to organise, plan and deliver an orienteering event for students fromour feeder middle schools. Redborne students demonstrated a great deal of commitment and determination in order to plan the event which was subsequently delivered successfully with all middle school students developing their orienteering and problem solving skills.
Phase 3 – Mikes Masterclass
In order to reward Redborne students for their participation and commitment to the programme, Mike agreed to return to Redborne with his favourite piece of equipment, his BMX bike. Mike demonstrated of some of his BMX tricks and invited students to have a go at doing it themselves.
New Art Block
Now that the worst of the winter weather has cleared, progress on the new art block has accelerated. We are on course for the building to be completed by July, ready for teaching in September. The extension to the existing technology building will provide four new spacious classrooms as well as offices, storage and a kiln room for pottery. The existing art rooms will be converted to provide additional classrooms and, by the start of 2015, an additional science laboratory in the largest of the existing rooms.
Redborne Student Achievement
Over the Easter break, Ben Davies competed in the London Mini Marathon which he qualified for by winning the County Cross Country Championships. The London Mini Marathon had all the best competitors from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Ben finished 7th overall and 1st for the East of England on the fast 3 mile course
The London Marthon was his final race before the track starts however he has achieved the following accomplishments this season:
- 5th in the chiltern league cross country
- 6th in Southern Inter counties and the team finished 3rd
- 1st in the County Championships
- 12th in the Southern Cross Country championships (over 200 competitors)
- 6th out of 340 runners at the Nationals
- 6th in the British inter counties Championship
- 29th out of over 320 runners, 8th in his year group at the English Schools Cross Country Championships
Latest Issue of Redborne Musings.
The latest issue is here. Click to see this and catch up with previous editions.
New Art Block
Work on the new art block is well underway. In spite of the extremely wet winter, the art block is now above ground with the steel frame now in place. As you can see from the pictures, it is an impressive structure and should provide excellent facilities for generations to come. Completion is expected to allow students to take over in September.
Holocaust Survivor Talks to Year 9
Zigi Shipper spoke to Year 9 in the hall on Wednesday 20th March about his experience of surviving the Holocaust as a teenage Jew, living in Poland. Students listened for an hour and then had the opportunity to ask questions ranging from, 'do you believe in God' and 'do you forgive the people who did this to you' to, 'what would you do if you met Hitler today?' Ziggi's answers were often funny and surprising. His message of 'don't give up', and 'don't hate' have hopefully inspired everyone who heard him.
Redborne Sixth Form Great British Bake Off
Hannah Waters (head girl) organised the "bake off" and 10 Year 12 students took part. The bake off was a technical challenge to make brownies using a recipe developed by Will Goodge (ex student) and his mum Amanda Goodge who established Cake Stand and Crumb vintage tearoom in Ampthill. All the students did exceptionally well, mastering the techniques of the recipe. Alice Hawkes was crowned Star Baker and Millie Hunt came second. The finished brownies were sold to staff and students as part of 6th form charities week.
Redborne Insider
Read all about it! Redborne Sixth Form launch new magazine called the Insider. Click here for the launch issue.
Dance Composition Evening 2014
Once again, a fantastic showcase of Redborne talent. The dances were not only performed by students, but choreographed by them as well. Another excellent evening, please click here for photos of the show.
Central Bedfordshire Transport
To all year 11 students who live within Central Bedfordshire, please find all the information you and your parents need when considering transportation at a post 16 level. If you or your parents have any questions then please contact Central Bedfordshire School Transport on 0300 300 8339 or email them at school.transport@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk and they will be happy to help.
Austin Paul
Transport Commissioning and Entitlement Team Leader
Children Services
Numeracy Competition
Hospitality Students Welcome The Local Rotary Club
Year 11 students studying GCSE Hospitality welcomed local members of the Rotary club to an event as part of their exam course. The event helped raise money for the Rotary's Polio appeal and was enjoyed by both the students and the guests. For more pictures, please click here.
Mindfull Opportunity
Mindfull is a new service for 11-17 year olds. It provides support, information and advice about mental health and emotional wellbeing, helping you to overcome life's ups and downs and helping you feel confident and happy about who you are. If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please click here for more information. Mindfull also helps raise awareness of issues concerning young people and has awareness weeks. Click here for more information.
Year 12 Visit Computer Museum
The year 12 students had the opportunity to visit the centre for computing history in Cambridge.
Exhibits ranged from early 1960’s computers used in the military to the more modern computers used in the 1990's that we recognise today.
Also the students attended a computer programming workshop using 1980's BBC computers. The retro gaming exhibits were very popular.
Careers Fair a Success
On Thursday 30 January Redborne hosted a careers fair for over 1400 students. Promoted as an inspirational and motivational event, over 43 organisations gave up their time and attended.
We were delighted to be joined by representatives from local colleges and businesses including Urban & Rural, The Rufus Centre and Aragon Housing. The University of Bedfordshire, BBC 3 Counties Radio, Tesco Head Office, the Armed Forces, Lockheed Martin, Millbrook and Vauxhall to name but a few were also our guests.
NatWest brought their business bus and ran workshops for some of the business studies students. The Volunteer Centre were also present to explain why volunteering is great for your CV.
Working with Central Bedfordshire Council we invited companies who enlightened students about their industry, future prospects and apprenticeship opportunities.
There was excellent feedback from everyone. The organisations attending were impressed by the polite and positive students and hoped they gave them some career ideas to consider further.
Safer Internet Day
This is an email that was sent home by Mr Whomsley to parents about keeping safe on line.
On Safer Internet Day I thought I would share with you a resource produced by CEOP (now part of the National Crime Agency) and websites which have some up-to-date information on ensuring your son or daughter remains safe when using the internet. The first website http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/26135663 gives a concise view of five current major issues regarding online safety.
The second link looks at the dangers of smartphones http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26121434 and parental controls associated with these devices. Smartphones are small computers and so anything that students can access on a laptop or desktop computer can also be viewed on their phones.
Finally I thought I would draw your attention to a recent activity which seems to have gone viral and has led to the death of a young man in Wales. The current trend amongst young people is to play a game called Neknomination. This is where people are encouraged to down ever-increasingly outrageous drinks after which they nominate friends to beat them. A simple scan of Twitter and Facebook makes it apparent that students at Redborne are already aware of this ‘game’.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-26022853
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-26117507
As ever, the internet is a phenomenal resource we can no longer be without. I hope the information here will help you in supporting your son or daughter to make appropriate use of the things we provide for them. Obviously if you have any questions or comments then please do not hesitate to contact me and if I can offer any advice at all then please let me know.
Mr Whomsley
Assistant Headteacher (Pastoral)
Email: stawhomsley@redborne.com
Philosopher Visits Redborne
60 year 11 students were treated to a series of lectures by the writer and philosopher Peter Vardy in January. Peter is the author of the A level textbooks 'The Puzzle of God' and 'The Puzzle of Ethics' and was warmly received by the philosophy and ethics GCSE students. The day culminated in a debate about the ethics of political assassination.
Holocaust Memorial Day 2014
Students from years 11 and 12 took part in a week long series of assemblies to all year groups focussing on the theme of journeys. Holocaust Memorial Day is a national event with schools, community and faith groups remembering the victims of the Holocaust and other genocides. Since 2006 over 200 students from Redborne have travelled on the journey to Poland to visit the Holocaust memorial at Auschwitz.
Update on Christmas Jumper Day
Staff and students supported the Christmas Jumper Day campaign and raised a total of £683.93 for Save the Children. See News from Autumn Term on the left for pictures of the event.
Year 9 Netball - Regional Tournament 2013/14
Having been crowned County Champions in November, Redborne attended the Regional Championships in Essex. They performed well and were a credit to both the school and the county winning three games on their way to finishing third in their pool of seven. Thanks should go to all the girls and Mr Scutt for attending the event with a special mention going to Mrs Gilloran, who has been coaching the girls this season during Miss Piggott's maternity leave. We look forward to more success as the girls move through the school.
Music Department Tea Concert
The music department kicked off its year with a sixth form tea concert. This is an opportunity for Sixth Form students to showcase their talents in front of an audience. This tea concert was different as the students were asked to perform something that they liked or were interested in doing, rather that performing their course work.
There was a range of genres of music on display and every performance demonstrated the strength of the musical talent at Redborne. It was pleasing to see students and staff working alongside each other producing some excellent music for an audience of staff, students and parents.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable end to the week. There will be more tea concerts in the coming months, so keep an ear out for announcements. If you would like to catch a glimpse of what you missed, click on the video below.
Redborne Musings
The second edition of the Redborne Musings Magazine is now available here.
Redborne Racing Launch Website
You can now get all the latest information on the Redborne Racing Team at RedborneRacing.com
Senior Maths Challenge 2013
In November several students from years 12 and 13 sat the UKMT Senior Maths Challenge. They achieved the following certificates Gold - Ben Ramchandani, Matthew McCready, Aran Raju and Eleanor Rowe, Silver – Michael Ita, Oliver Howe, Rory Hicks, Erin Barnard, Susannah Payne, George Yates and Daniel Yip, Bronze – Thomas Allen and George Ash. Well done to all of them.
Over 74 000 pupils from across the UK retuned scripts for the Senior Maths Challenge, the top 10% receive a gold certificate, the next 20% receive silver and the next 30% receive bronze. Approximately 4000 of the top students are invited to sit in one of the follow on competitions. We had Ben Ramchandani in the BMO1 and Matthew McCready in the Senior Kangaroo, so a special congratulations to them.Summer Concert 2014
The Redborne Summer Concert was another outstanding success, please click here for some pictures of the evening.
Latest Edition of Redborne Musings
Please click here for latest edition.
Duke of Edinburgh
The Duke of Edinburgh staff wish to announce the launch of their Twitter feed to inform students about important dates as well as being able to 'tweet' updates about the students progress/photos whilst they are away on their expeditions for friends/family to be updated.
If you search for @RedborneDofE you will find them.
Strike Action - Thursday 10th July
You may have heard that there is strike action taking place on Thursday. Redborne will be open for all year groups. It is possible that a small number of lessons will be affected by the action.
As with the last strike action if that happens, students will be supervised in a suitable location and they will get further information when they come into school on Thursday. New work will not be set for any lessons if a teacher is on strike.
Students may therefore find it useful to bring in any homework tasks, extension work or a book to read so that they have some constructive work to do if any of their lessons are cancelled. There may be opportunities for computer access but this cannot be guaranteed.
Redborne School Farm
The school farm has set up its own website to keep you up to date with all that is happening. Take a look at the farm page for more details or go staright to the website at www.redborneschoolfarm.webs.com
Redborne Dance Company
On Saturday 28th June the Redborne Dance Co performed alongside other schools and professional dancers at the MOTUS DANCE FESTIVAL in MK. Prior to this event they spent one afternoon in school devising / creating a dance piece with the choreographer Helen Parlour of Parlour Dance Co which they then performed in a site specific setting in MK. This piece also involved dancers from Samuel Whitbread and Sharnbrook school.
The Dance Co did a fantastic job performing....in, at times, some extreme weather conditions. As the sun came out the crowds gathered and grew even more. The students even got to watch professional dance artists and performers from across the UK showcase their pieces.
Well done to all involved.
Hospitality Students Shine Again
Year 10 Hospitality Students really impressed this week when serving an afternoon tea as part of their mock controlled assessment.
On Wednesday 18th June twenty guests from the Rotary club were served an afternoon tea based on either Alice in Wonderland or the Seaside. Two days later, on Friday 20th June, eighteen ladies from Bedford WI were served a British and summertime afternoon tea.
The teams of students spent the morning baking, preparing, decorating and presenting a variety of savoury and sweet items before serving the guests their afternoon tea. They worked exceptionally hard through out the day showing excellent teamwork and skill. Both the Rotary club and Bedford WI said they had an excellent afternoon and have already asked when they can come back!
New Issue of Redborne Musings
Click here for the latest edition of Redborne Musings.
Update on the New Build
The new school hall and classroom development that is to be built on the north school site, where the long jump pit is currently located, has taken a step closer with the release of the plans. You can see them by clicking on the following links; Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 3 and Plan 4.
Bedfordshire Combined Events
On Wednesday 7th May, Redborne took two teams to the Bedfordshire and Luton Schools Athletics Association Combined Events Championships. The athletes spent the day at Bedford Athletic stadium where they all competed in Hurdles, 100m, 800m (girls) / 1500m (boys), High jump, Long Jump and Javelin (girls)/ Discus (boys). Each athlete competed in the five events. The competition was for both individuals and teams. Unfortunately, the Girls’ team had a couple of injuries, which affected the team score. The intermediate boys’ team, which consisted of Ben Davies, Billy Ecott and Ben Clements, won the team completion for Redborne and Ben Clements defended his junior title of Combined Events champion.
Bedfordshire Golf Championships
Redborne School's golf team retained their County Golf Handicap Championships meaning a return to the national finals at Woodhall Spa in July. The team of Tom Skinner, Luke Baynham and James Manning battled some awful weather conditions and a tricky course to see off the opposition in a tight competition and should be proud of their achievement.
Able, Gifted and Talented in PE
Phase 1 – Meeting Mike Mike Mullen is a former BMX World Masterclass champion who visited Redborne Upper School to work with our gifted and talented PE students. The rationale behind including the visit was to inspire students to become outstanding performers and also to teach students about motivation, persistence and mental toughness. The whole programme is underpinned by the 5 core gifted and talented components: social, cognitive, physical, creative and personal.
Phase 2 – Skills into practice
Having spoken to Mike about the qualities and attributes of an elite performer and leader, students were asked to organise, plan and deliver an orienteering event for students fromour feeder middle schools. Redborne students demonstrated a great deal of commitment and determination in order to plan the event which was subsequently delivered successfully with all middle school students developing their orienteering and problem solving skills.
Phase 3 – Mikes Masterclass
In order to reward Redborne students for their participation and commitment to the programme, Mike agreed to return to Redborne with his favourite piece of equipment, his BMX bike. Mike demonstrated of some of his BMX tricks and invited students to have a go at doing it themselves.
New Art Block
Now that the worst of the winter weather has cleared, progress on the new art block has accelerated. We are on course for the building to be completed by July, ready for teaching in September. The extension to the existing technology building will provide four new spacious classrooms as well as offices, storage and a kiln room for pottery. The existing art rooms will be converted to provide additional classrooms and, by the start of 2015, an additional science laboratory in the largest of the existing rooms.
Redborne Student Achievement
Over the Easter break, Ben Davies competed in the London Mini Marathon which he qualified for by winning the County Cross Country Championships. The London Mini Marathon had all the best competitors from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Ben finished 7th overall and 1st for the East of England on the fast 3 mile course
The London Marthon was his final race before the track starts however he has achieved the following accomplishments this season:
- 5th in the chiltern league cross country
- 6th in Southern Inter counties and the team finished 3rd
- 1st in the County Championships
- 12th in the Southern Cross Country championships (over 200 competitors)
- 6th out of 340 runners at the Nationals
- 6th in the British inter counties Championship
- 29th out of over 320 runners, 8th in his year group at the English Schools Cross Country Championships
Latest Issue of Redborne Musings.
The latest issue is here. Click to see this and catch up with previous editions.
New Art Block
Work on the new art block is well underway. In spite of the extremely wet winter, the art block is now above ground with the steel frame now in place. As you can see from the pictures, it is an impressive structure and should provide excellent facilities for generations to come. Completion is expected to allow students to take over in September.
Holocaust Survivor Talks to Year 9
Zigi Shipper spoke to Year 9 in the hall on Wednesday 20th March about his experience of surviving the Holocaust as a teenage Jew, living in Poland. Students listened for an hour and then had the opportunity to ask questions ranging from, 'do you believe in God' and 'do you forgive the people who did this to you' to, 'what would you do if you met Hitler today?' Ziggi's answers were often funny and surprising. His message of 'don't give up', and 'don't hate' have hopefully inspired everyone who heard him.
Redborne Sixth Form Great British Bake Off
Hannah Waters (head girl) organised the "bake off" and 10 Year 12 students took part. The bake off was a technical challenge to make brownies using a recipe developed by Will Goodge (ex student) and his mum Amanda Goodge who established Cake Stand and Crumb vintage tearoom in Ampthill. All the students did exceptionally well, mastering the techniques of the recipe. Alice Hawkes was crowned Star Baker and Millie Hunt came second. The finished brownies were sold to staff and students as part of 6th form charities week.
Redborne Insider
Read all about it! Redborne Sixth Form launch new magazine called the Insider. Click here for the launch issue.
Dance Composition Evening 2014
Once again, a fantastic showcase of Redborne talent. The dances were not only performed by students, but choreographed by them as well. Another excellent evening, please click here for photos of the show.
Central Bedfordshire Transport
To all year 11 students who live within Central Bedfordshire, please find all the information you and your parents need when considering transportation at a post 16 level. If you or your parents have any questions then please contact Central Bedfordshire School Transport on 0300 300 8339 or email them at school.transport@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk and they will be happy to help.
Austin Paul
Transport Commissioning and Entitlement Team Leader
Children Services
Numeracy Competition
Hospitality Students Welcome The Local Rotary Club
Year 11 students studying GCSE Hospitality welcomed local members of the Rotary club to an event as part of their exam course. The event helped raise money for the Rotary's Polio appeal and was enjoyed by both the students and the guests. For more pictures, please click here.
Mindfull Opportunity
Mindfull is a new service for 11-17 year olds. It provides support, information and advice about mental health and emotional wellbeing, helping you to overcome life's ups and downs and helping you feel confident and happy about who you are. If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please click here for more information. Mindfull also helps raise awareness of issues concerning young people and has awareness weeks. Click here for more information.
Year 12 Visit Computer Museum
The year 12 students had the opportunity to visit the centre for computing history in Cambridge.
Exhibits ranged from early 1960’s computers used in the military to the more modern computers used in the 1990's that we recognise today.
Also the students attended a computer programming workshop using 1980's BBC computers. The retro gaming exhibits were very popular.
Careers Fair a Success
On Thursday 30 January Redborne hosted a careers fair for over 1400 students. Promoted as an inspirational and motivational event, over 43 organisations gave up their time and attended.
We were delighted to be joined by representatives from local colleges and businesses including Urban & Rural, The Rufus Centre and Aragon Housing. The University of Bedfordshire, BBC 3 Counties Radio, Tesco Head Office, the Armed Forces, Lockheed Martin, Millbrook and Vauxhall to name but a few were also our guests.
NatWest brought their business bus and ran workshops for some of the business studies students. The Volunteer Centre were also present to explain why volunteering is great for your CV.
Working with Central Bedfordshire Council we invited companies who enlightened students about their industry, future prospects and apprenticeship opportunities.
There was excellent feedback from everyone. The organisations attending were impressed by the polite and positive students and hoped they gave them some career ideas to consider further.
Safer Internet Day
This is an email that was sent home by Mr Whomsley to parents about keeping safe on line.
On Safer Internet Day I thought I would share with you a resource produced by CEOP (now part of the National Crime Agency) and websites which have some up-to-date information on ensuring your son or daughter remains safe when using the internet. The first website http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/26135663 gives a concise view of five current major issues regarding online safety.
The second link looks at the dangers of smartphones http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26121434 and parental controls associated with these devices. Smartphones are small computers and so anything that students can access on a laptop or desktop computer can also be viewed on their phones.
Finally I thought I would draw your attention to a recent activity which seems to have gone viral and has led to the death of a young man in Wales. The current trend amongst young people is to play a game called Neknomination. This is where people are encouraged to down ever-increasingly outrageous drinks after which they nominate friends to beat them. A simple scan of Twitter and Facebook makes it apparent that students at Redborne are already aware of this ‘game’.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-26022853
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-26117507
As ever, the internet is a phenomenal resource we can no longer be without. I hope the information here will help you in supporting your son or daughter to make appropriate use of the things we provide for them. Obviously if you have any questions or comments then please do not hesitate to contact me and if I can offer any advice at all then please let me know.
Mr Whomsley
Assistant Headteacher (Pastoral)
Email: stawhomsley@redborne.com
Philosopher Visits Redborne
60 year 11 students were treated to a series of lectures by the writer and philosopher Peter Vardy in January. Peter is the author of the A level textbooks 'The Puzzle of God' and 'The Puzzle of Ethics' and was warmly received by the philosophy and ethics GCSE students. The day culminated in a debate about the ethics of political assassination.
Holocaust Memorial Day 2014
Students from years 11 and 12 took part in a week long series of assemblies to all year groups focussing on the theme of journeys. Holocaust Memorial Day is a national event with schools, community and faith groups remembering the victims of the Holocaust and other genocides. Since 2006 over 200 students from Redborne have travelled on the journey to Poland to visit the Holocaust memorial at Auschwitz.
Update on Christmas Jumper Day
Staff and students supported the Christmas Jumper Day campaign and raised a total of £683.93 for Save the Children. See News from Autumn Term on the left for pictures of the event.
Year 9 Netball - Regional Tournament 2013/14
Having been crowned County Champions in November, Redborne attended the Regional Championships in Essex. They performed well and were a credit to both the school and the county winning three games on their way to finishing third in their pool of seven. Thanks should go to all the girls and Mr Scutt for attending the event with a special mention going to Mrs Gilloran, who has been coaching the girls this season during Miss Piggott's maternity leave. We look forward to more success as the girls move through the school.
Music Department Tea Concert
The music department kicked off its year with a sixth form tea concert. This is an opportunity for Sixth Form students to showcase their talents in front of an audience. This tea concert was different as the students were asked to perform something that they liked or were interested in doing, rather that performing their course work.
There was a range of genres of music on display and every performance demonstrated the strength of the musical talent at Redborne. It was pleasing to see students and staff working alongside each other producing some excellent music for an audience of staff, students and parents.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable end to the week. There will be more tea concerts in the coming months, so keep an ear out for announcements. If you would like to catch a glimpse of what you missed, click on the video below.
Redborne Musings
The second edition of the Redborne Musings Magazine is now available here.
Redborne Racing Launch Website
You can now get all the latest information on the Redborne Racing Team at RedborneRacing.com
Senior Maths Challenge 2013
In November several students from years 12 and 13 sat the UKMT Senior Maths Challenge. They achieved the following certificates Gold - Ben Ramchandani, Matthew McCready, Aran Raju and Eleanor Rowe, Silver – Michael Ita, Oliver Howe, Rory Hicks, Erin Barnard, Susannah Payne, George Yates and Daniel Yip, Bronze – Thomas Allen and George Ash. Well done to all of them.
Over 74 000 pupils from across the UK retuned scripts for the Senior Maths Challenge, the top 10% receive a gold certificate, the next 20% receive silver and the next 30% receive bronze. Approximately 4000 of the top students are invited to sit in one of the follow on competitions. We had Ben Ramchandani in the BMO1 and Matthew McCready in the Senior Kangaroo, so a special congratulations to them.
Christmas Concert 2014
This was another tremendous occassion with lots of students and staff involved in this year's Christmas concert. Please click here for photos of the evening.
Sixth Form Presentation Evening 2014
This was another superb evening, allowing staff, students, parents and carers to celebrate the success of our students' results from the summer. A lot of students returned from their first term at university to hear some warm and heartfelt messages from their former teachers. It was a lovely evening enjoyed by all. For pictures of the presentation evening, please click here.
'Sky Sports Living' Athlete and Mentor visits Redborne
For the second year running Redborne PE Gifted and Talented students have been rewarded with the opportunity to be inspired by a guest athlete mentor through the Sky Sports Living project. Last year it was former World BMX Champion Mike Mullen and this year it was GB Paralympian and England Footballer Alistair Patrick-Heselton.Phase one of the Sky Sports project started back in November with Redborne’s PE Gifted and Talented students planning and organising a practical sporting session for our local feeder schools. Our students delivered the session, which included a fun rigorous warm-up, hockey skills and then finished the afternoon with an enjoyable, but competitive round-robin hockey tournament.
Phase two was a visit from Alistair Patrick-Heselton a talented and former QPR U17s and U19s footballer. He started the day by presenting his story, including the ups and down of a being a professional footballer and the life changing car accident, which put him in a coma for three months. After waking up he was told that he would never walk again or play football but after a lot of determination he made an extraordinary recover. Four years later he was approached by the FA and he made his debut scoring for England at the 2011 Cerebral Palsy World Cup against Korea. He went on to be selected for Great Britain’s CP Football team (Cerebral Palsy or brain injury sufferers) in London 2012.
Alistair then spent the rest of the day delivering interactive and practical workshops based on Sky Sports Living ‘Six Keys to Success’; Mental toughness, Hunger to achieve, People skills, Sports and life knowledge, Breaking barriers and Planning for success.
An Excellent time was had by all and we would like to thank Alistair for his time and inspiration.
GCSE Presentation Evening 2014
It was another successful year for Redborne student following their GCSE exams in the summer. The presentation evening was a chance to celebrate their achievements with their parents and tutors. There was a great turn out and the presentation included a walk down memory lane with Mr Woodward and the Year team. It was a pleasurable event enjoyed by all. For images of the evening, please click here.
Redborne Farm Shop Opening Times over Christmas
Farm shop Christmas opening times are as follows;
Open 20th December 9am - 1pm
Open 23rd and 24th December 8am - 12pm
Closed until 10th January
We Will Rock You
Redborne's "We Will Rock You" 2014 will last a long time in the memory. This was the culmination of several months work by a wide range of departments around the school. We also had a team of students who worked tirelessly through rehearsals in Dance, Drama and Music to bring together such an amazing show. From the audition process in the summer we realised that the cast had excellent potential and that was the beginning of a journey that saw teachers and students alike supporting each other.Mr Trapp brought his creative vision for the show to our rehearsals and the technical team, along with the DT department developed the lighting and equipment required to bring that vision to life. Art Club enthusiastically produced some beautifully creative large scale paintings for the stage set design. The Textiles department included stage costume design in their BTEC course and the carefully planned costumes were a testimony to their hard work. The dance department went into overdrive, choreographing all of the challenging and intricate dances for the show. The music department worked on teaching over 30 songs to the students and building a band capable of performing Queen's tracks in a realistic way.
Behind the scenes there were students who set up and organised backstage each day; organised the hair and make up; programmed the lights and sound checked microphones. This cross departmental collaboration showed what it is possible for Redborne School as a community to achieve when we all work together. It was a fitting final hurrah for the school hall as we look forward to the new hall which is fast making its way out of the ground. I have been so proud to be a part of this project and so pleased to work in a school where we can produce such outstanding performances.
Many thanks to all who have been involved; it was truly a team effort!
Ben Bottone (Head of Music)
Maths Challenge
T
This term the best mathematicians in the school have been kept busy with various different events.
Back in October, 22 of the top Mathematicians in years 11, 12 and 13 took part in a Team Maths Competition. In teams of 3 or 4, they competed in 3 different rounds testing their Mathematical knowledge, problem solving skills and speed. The competition was won by Charlie Rawlings, Alex Glyn-Davies and Amy Mannings, who all took home an Amazon voucher!
Following the competition, 6 of the best performing students took part in some intense training, ready to take part in the Regional final of the Senior Team Challenge on 20th November. The students put on a great show taking the crossnumber round by storm, but unfortunately didn't progress onto the National Final. Congratulations go to Erin Barnard, Charlie Rawlings, Alex Glyn-Davies and Joe Ash for their excellent efforts.We also had 27 year 12 and 13 Mathematicians who took part in the individual Maths Challenge, achieving 4 Gold, 9 Silver and 8 Bronze certificates, putting those students in the top 60% of Mathematicians that entered in the country. Rory Hicks and Ollie Howe scored so highly that they have been selected to take part in a follow on round. We wish them good luck!
Progress on the New School Hall
Progress on the new hall/theatre continues to be good - the foundations are now completed and the steel frame is currently being installed. We're grateful for the co-operation of students during the diversions around the building works, but we're confident that it will all be worth it in the end. If all continues to go according to plan, we will have use of the building for September 2015.
If you've seen the banners on the Flitwick Road by the site entrance, this shows an artists' impression of the complete building (including phase 2, which includes extra classrooms and social space for the sixth form). We are still negotiating about whether it will be possible for this second phase to follow on immediately from phase 1 - further details to follow.
Latest Issue of Redborne Musings
The latest issue of Redborne Musings is available here.
Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Activities in Science
The science faculty has been doing some fantastic extension work with a variety of students. Click here for more details.
Science Poster Competition
GlaxoSmithKline are running a competition to create a science based poster, for more details, please click here.
Redborne Students work with the Local Community
Mr A Jones, Head of Product Design, Graphics and Electronics at Redborne Upper School together with the Year 12 design students were challenged to create the official logo for the Ampthill Community Safety Group (ACSG). Approximately 30 students worked on the brief which forms part of their personal portfolio of working with the community. Following a great deal of hard word, a final logo was chosen. The winner was Sean Hagan and a copy of his winning logo is shown to the right. More details of the competition and some of the other students' work can be seen here.
Redborne Open Evening 2014
Once again theere was a great deal of interest in Redborne's open evening with a large number of prospective students and their parents attending the evening. Thanks should go to all the Redborne students who gave up their evening, following a busy day, to show their school to all the visitors. If you would like more information about Redborne, please click here for the prospective parents' handbook or contact the school via the office.
Redborne Student Shines on the Track
Year 9 student Joe Turney has been competing in the MSA (Motorsport Association) British Karting Championship this season. In spite of facing some teams with vastly superior budgets, he has managed to get into the top ten. We wish Joe all the best for next season and look forward to hearing of more success in the future.
Michelin Star Chef visits Redborne
The Food and Catering department were thrilled to have Phil Fanning, owner of Michelin starred restaurant ‘Paris House’, at school to deliver a master class to A-level students studying Food Technology.
The three hour session consisted of all students helping prepare a three course meal consisting of; Trout, beetroot and gorgonzola salad; Pork loin with apricot and homemade gnocci; and Apple and blackberry streudel with greek yoghurt and honey. Whilst helping to prepare and make each component of the three course meal, the students had the opportunity to ask questions about Phil’s catering experience, his training, his Michelin star, his menu and the restaurant.
Once the meal had been presented to a restaurant standard (and photographs had been taken!) the students were lucky enough to sample each of the delicious dishes. The master class has inspired their A2 coursework where they have to develop a new dish for the menu of a restaurant they have chosen.
The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and we hope that Phil will return next year.
Exam Success for Redborne Students
Seven into Oxbridge
The school is pleased with all the results this year and especially with the seven students who have achieved places at Oxford and Cambridge, a school record. A more detailed breakdown is outlined below. Results at Redborne were a credit to all the hard work put in by the students again this year.
GCSE
•5A* - C grades 78% (Redborne ranked second in the local area)
•5A* - C grades 65% (including Maths and English)
•75% students made expected progress in English (compared to 69% nationally in 2013)
•73% students made expected progress in Maths (compared to 70% nationally in 2013)
•On average students achieved 2 grades better than similar students nationally
These results are very pleasing particularly with the volitility of the results as reported in the press this year. Again our value added scores are very strong and Redborne will compare very well against all schools nationally.
Individuals scoring the highest included; Eleanor Yip (11A*, 1Di, 2A), James Williams-Crowther (9A*, 1Di, 2A, 1B), Sophie Engineer (8A*, 1Di, 4A, 1B), Ben Bradley (7A* 3Di, 4A), Francesca Atkinson (7A*, 1Di, 4A) and Cara Ramchandani (7A*, 4A, 1M, 1B).
Individuals scoring above indicator grades included; Cameron Tinkler (+18), Amy Rigby (+16), Gregory Tucker (+16), Matthew Emery (+13), Chenna Tigwell (+13), Joseph Hind (+13), Jessica Coyle (+12), Delcie (+11) and Joshua-Lee Arthur-Kent (+11).
AS Level•A-B Grades 41.2% (including General Studies)
•Overall pass rate of 90.6%
Individuals achieving the highest grades included; Amy Foley (1A*, 3A, 1B), Erin Barnard (6A), Michael Ita (5A), May Farrow (5A), Oliver Howe (4A, 1B), William Smith (4A*, 1B) and Conor Willets (4A, 1D).
A Level
•A-B grades 55.4%
•Overall pass rate of 99.8%
•The average total point score was 227
•The total point score is 915
•The A Level results gave Redborne a score of 2 on ALPS (A value added measure).
This is “outstanding”
Individuals achieving the higest grades included; Daniel Yip (4A*), Phoebe Wilsmore (4A*, 1A), Matthew Bailey (4A*), James Bower (4A*), George Ash (3A*, 1A), Aran Raju (3A*, 1A, 1D), and Ben Ramchandani (3A*, 1A, 1B).Individuals achieving above indicator grades included; Ella Phelan (+8), Ben Ford (+7), Ellena Gazely (+7), Zoe Jones (+7) and Ceri Rust (+7).
The local press were also keen to celebrate the success of our students and the article can be found here. We would like to congratulate all our students and wish them well for the future.
Former Student
Former Redborne student Ben Chilwell continues to do well as a professional footballer and plays in a tight game against Germany for England. Click here for the Daily Mail article.
